Fabric



Sepf.2,1941. J. R. WYLDE mL 2,254,339

v FABRIC Filed oct. 22, v1958 i M@ Attorneys yPatented Sept. 2*, 1841 Joseph Rowland Wylde andH f Arthurswiit,

Spondon, naar Derby, England, gnors to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application october zz, 193s, serial No. 236,394 In Great Britain March 15, 1938 1 Claim.

This invention relates to fabrics and particularly to fabrics having apuckered effect obtained by the inclusion therein of elastic yarn.

According to the present invention an elastic fabric comprises warp threads and weft threads of an inelastic character, and also weft threads of an elastic character woven into Athe fabric at intervals among the inelastic weft threads, the

design of the fabric and the vdisposition of the elastic weft threads in said design being such lwarps of one shaft only pass to the rear of the elastic weft, so that the elastic weft is incorporated in the fabric and at the same time the majority of the warps, controlled by the remain'- Y ing shafts,.pass to the front of the elasticweft and conceal itfrom the front of the fabric.

During the weaving of the fabric, the elastic weft threads are in an extended condition, either by being woven under tension or by reason of a content of size or similar material applied to them when under tension so as to hold them in an. extended condition. Consequently when the weft threads are allowed to relax from their extended conditionpeither by the relaxation of tension on the fabric or by the removal of the size holding them in their' extended condition, the

contraction of the elastic wefts causes the fabric to become attractively puckered. l

The fabric may also contain elastic yarn in the warps, so that in addition to the contraction weftwise produced by the inclusion of the elastic weft there is also a warpwise contraction of the fabric. For example, if the spacing of the elastic warps is substantially equal to that of the elastic wefts the contraction of the fabric produces puckered areas in square sections of the lfabric bounded by the elastic warps and wefts.

In weaving the fabric with elastic warps it is generally convenient to carry the elastic warp threads on a separate beam. Where the elastic warps are to be woven under a substantial degree of tension the warp beam carrying them may conveniently be provided with a positive letoff motion, feeding the warps under tension to the fell of the fabric at-a definite rate. I

The elastic wefts may be inserted at uniform intervals in the length of the fabric, or at dif-4 ferent or irregular intervals. Further, the elastic wefts may be laid in as single picks, for example by the use of a'pick-andick loom or they (ci. 13a-,421) i may be laid in as of an ordinary two-box loom. In order to ensure that the elastic weft is laid at a substantially even tension throughout the length of the fabric it is advisable to change an exhausted pirn from the shuttle containing the elastic weft only' when' weft is used in the shuttle occupying the top box and the loom is stopped specially for the purpose of changing the pirn when the bottomY box, con-- the shuttle of non-elastic weft isin opera on.

A fabric according to the present invention 15 will now be described in greater detail with reference to thev accompanying drawing in 'whichof the fabric showing the arrangement of the elastic and inelastic yarns therein;

'Figure 2 is a diagrammatic section onthe line'2-2 of Figure l; Figure 3.is a diagrammatic section on the line 3 3 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a-view on a smaller scale oi the f face of the fabric showing the puckered effect.

The fabric is -of the character of an 8-shaft warp satin fabric havingwarp threads l and weft threads 2 woven together in the manner characteristic of such a fabric. In addition to the warp threads l, and at intervals iof aboutone inch in the warp are included additional warp threads 3 of an elastic character, the. warp threads 3 beingv fed from a separate warp beam and'controlled bya separate shaft on the loom.'

* The warp threads 3 do not partake ofthe usual movement of the warp threads in an 8 -shaft satin but are shedded as in a plain woven fabric, passing alternately over and under successive weft threads ,2. 'Ihe warp threads 3 are not substi- 40 tuted for inelastic warp threads I`but are inserted'in addition thereto, so that the -shaft satin pattern is complete in the warp threads I.l

Among the weft threads 2 there are inserted at intervals pairs of wefts, indicated at 4, lfav- -ing an elastic character. 'I'he weft', threads I, unlike the warp threads '3. take their place as weft threads in the S-shaft satin weave. being substituted for inelastic weft threads 2.I .They are inserted at intervals of about -Vz inch in the length of the fabric.-

It will be 'seen that by the movement of an 8shaft satin weave, each elastic wef-t thread 4 is bound into the fabric at the back by the warp threads of Aone shaft only, that-is to say by 116'? of the warp threads l. The remaining 7a of the l groups, e. g.l in pairs by-means the shuttle containing the non-elastic weft is in operation. Thus in a two-box loom the elastic Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the backwarp threads i are vpassed in front of the weft thread 4. By these means the elastic picks I are causedto lie at the rear of the fabric, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and are not displayed on the face thereof. The elastic warp threads I, by being plain woven in the fabric do not. like the remaining warp threads I. liemainly on the face of the fabric but are also, like the elastic weft threads I, pushed to the rear of the fabric. This occurs partly because they are held at the back of the fabric by only one half of the weft threads -duced in this manner is suitabl'evfor the production of womens bathing costumes.l If desired 4the fabric may 'be vprinted while in an extended condition, the subsequent puckering c oupled with the printing producing a very attractive effect. Having described our invention what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An elastic fabric comprising inelastic warp Y threads and inelastic weft threads woven to- 2 and l which themselves lie chiefly on the back of the fabric, and also because, the warp density in a satin fabric being high relatively to the weft density, the neighbouring warps l crowd the elastic warps l to the back. In this manner, therefore, the elastic warp threads 3, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, 'are effectively concealed, like the elastic weft threads l, from the face of the fabric.

As is shown in Fig. 4, the fabric produced puckers, when the elastic threads contract, so

as to give a pattern of puckered rectangles each bounded by the elastic threads. 'Ihe fabric progether in a satin weave in which a small proportion only of the warp threads pass behind any given weft thread, 'additional weft threads having. an elastic character being woven in at intervals along the length of the fabric with a Weave similar to the weave of the inelastic weft threads and having a thickness greater than the thickness of the'fabric at points between the intervals at which said elastic weft threads are woven, and elastic warp threads additional to said inelastic warp threads being woven in a one and one weave with relation to all of the weft threads. 1

JOSEPH ROWLAND WYLDE. HAROLD ARTHUR SWIFT. 

